Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Kale in hospitals? Yes!

It's not every hospital that has its own farm, but St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan has taken some of its 350+ acre medical campus (which of course was a farm before the land was sold to allow the building of the hospital plus multiple clinics, parking lots, and lawn) and is re-creating a farm that is growing organic food for the hospital and the community. The Farm at St. Joe's is leading the way for other health care institutions to create healthy communities and has won a major award from the Catholic Healthcare Association for this work.

I'm interviewed for this documentary as I do serve on The Advisory Committee for The Farm, but I am only a 'supporting actress' in this film. The main show is The Farm itself along with the love and commitment that the St. Joe's staff shows for this vital effort of nourishing and healing their patients and the wider community with healthy, delicious food. Our two farms work together to support these goals.

Farmer Dan Bair says it best with the closing line "Health care is happening here." :)

Please watch and please share widely. Who knows where and how far this happiness and good health will spread? Maybe you'll be seeing kale in your local hospital, too! Where kale is more than decoration on my plate - It's a best-seller at a hospital-based farmers' market!
Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Finally, some sanity! I spent 4 weeks in a hospital in the summer of 2012 after a car accident.The food was ATROCIOUS. If you were not sick yet after eating that bone-dead garbage for a while you soon would be. At least there were no medical bills. I thank Earth for being Canadian. BTW, the near-cult status of kale these days makes me laugh. It has always been a traditional Dutch winter food and I have grown it ever since I started to garden in 1970.

Welcome to 365DaysofKale! by Diana Dyer, MS, RD

I'm a wife, mom, long-time organic gardener, new organic garlic farmer, Registered Dietitian, author of the book A Dietitian's Cancer Story, website CancerRD.com, and in between all that and more, I am a multiple time cancer survivor. My website focuses on nutrition information for cancer survivors. I began my "dianadyer" blog in June 2007 to share a wider scope of my thoughts about cancer survivorship, food, nutrition, gardening, recipes, our environment, and life.

I started this blog "365DaysofKale" in January 2009 in which I write about my passion for growing and eating kale. I hope that I can offer both information and inspiration to eat some kale or one of its healthy relatives every day of the year!

My Book

Personally autographed copies available at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, MI (call 734-662-0600 or visit nicolasbooks.com). Proceeds donated to research funded by The American Institute for Cancer Research (aicr.org, 1-800-843-8114).